11: The Outlier

Education research is at a turning point in the United States. The Trump administration is slashing government funding for science and dismantling the Department of Education. We look at what the cuts mean for the science of reading — and the effort to get that science into schools. Read: Trump cancels survey of high schoolers Read: Nation’s Report Card at risk Read: Lawsuit saves massive reading experiment Read: Transcript of this episodeCarolyn Riehl: Medical research and education research Watch: The story behind Sold a StoryOrganize: Sold a Story discussion guidesSupport: Donate to APM Reports Email us: [email protected]  Call us: (612) 888-7323More: soldastory.org Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit. 

Steubenville became a model of reading success. Then a new law in Ohio put it all at risk. In this episode, we look at the "science of reading" lists some states are making, why the program Steubenville has been using for 25 years isn't getting on many of these lists, and the surprising power of one curriculum review group.Read: Christopher Peak on EdReportsRead: Transcript of this episodeWatch: The story behind Sold a StoryOrganize: Sold a Story discussion guidesSupport: Donate to APM Reports Email us: [email protected]  Call us: (612) 888-7323More: soldastory.org Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.

There’s a name for the program at the heart of Steubenville’s remarkable reading results. It’s called Success for All. It’s been around for decades, and numerous studies have shown it’s effective. But relatively few school districts use it. We trace the history of the program and why it’s never really caught on. Read: Why don’t more schools use Success for All?Read: Transcript of this episodeWatch: The story behind Sold a StoryOrganize: Sold a Story discussion guidesSupport: Donate to APM Reports Email us: [email protected]  More: soldastory.org Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit. 

There’s a school district in eastern Ohio where virtually all the students become good readers by the time they finish third grade. Many of the wealthiest places in the country can’t even say that. And Steubenville is a Rust Belt town where the state considers almost all the students “economically disadvantaged.” How did they do it?Explore: Steubenville, by the numbers Read: Transcript of this episode Book: Districts that Succeed Book: How It's Being Done Podcast: ExtraOrdinary Districts Watch: The story behind Sold a StoryOrganize: Sold a Story discussion guidesSupport: Donate to APM Reports Email us: [email protected]  More: soldastory.org Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit. 

Nationally acclaimed journalist Emily Hanford's work is changing the ways schools around the country teach reading. In this award-winning podcast, she investigates why so many schools use an approach that cognitive scientists debunked decades ago. Apple Podcasts has recognized Sold a Story as a Series Essential. To celebrate, we’re making it available without ads or other announcements for a limited time. Watch: The story behind Sold a StorySupport: Donate to APM Reports More: soldastory.org Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.

Some of the teachers, students, parents and researchers we met in Sold a Story talk about the impact the podcast has had on their lives and in schools — and share some of their hopes and concerns about the “science of reading” movement.  Portraits: Zoe and Lee Gaul, Christine Cronin, Reid Lyon Read: Transcript of this episode Video: Mark Seidenberg at Yale Article: Seidenberg on translating the science Article: Reid Lyon’s most important findingsWatch: The story behind Sold a StoryOrganize: Sold a Story discussion guidesDonate: Support APM Reports Email us: [email protected] More: soldastory.org Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit. 

Schools around the country are changing the way they teach reading. And that is having major consequences for people who sold the flawed idea we investigated in Sold a Story. But Lucy Calkins, Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell are fighting back — and fighting to stay relevant. And so are organizations that promoted their work: the Reading Recovery Council of North America and the publisher Heinemann. Read: Two universities stick with a discredited ideaRead: Reading Recovery financial difficultiesRead: Science movement trouble for HeinemannRead: Transcript of this episodeWatch: The story behind Sold a StoryOrganize: Sold a Story discussion guidesSupport: Donate to APM Reports More: soldastory.org Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit. 

A Spanish adaptation of Sold a Story is now available. Hosted by journalist Valeria Fernández, the podcast is condensed into one 58-minute episode, plus a conversation between Fernández and Emily Hanford for Spanish-speaking parents whose children are learning to read English in American schools. - Listen or share: Sold a Story en español - Learn more: soldastory.es

Across the country, school districts are dropping textbooks, state legislatures are going so far as to ban teaching methods, and everyone, it seems, is talking about "the science of reading." Things have been changing since Sold a Story was released. In this episode, we tell you about some of the changes and what we think about them.  Read: New reading laws sweep the nationRead: Transcript of this episode Watch: The story behind Sold a StoryOrganize: Sold a Story discussion guidesSupport: Donate to APM Reports More: soldastory.org EXTENDED READING Blog: Seidenberg on translating research into practice Article: Goldenberg, Goldberg on premortem (paywall) | Excerpt Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit. 

Voicemails, emails, tweets: We got a lot of messages from people after they heard Sold a Story. In this episode, we bring you some of their voices. A 10-year-old figures out why he has struggled to read. A mom stays up late to binge the podcast. A teacher confirms what he's suspected for years — he's not really teaching kids how to read.   Read: Messages from our listeners Read: Transcript of this episode Watch: The story behind Sold a StoryOrganize: Sold a Story discussion guidesSupport: Donate to APM Reports Call us: ‪(612) 888-7323More: soldastory.org Donate to support Sold a Story and other journalism from APM Reports. Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.